Why Did Faith Evans Walk Away From The Florence Ballard Film? See Who Replaced Her!

Detroit native Nicci Gilbert had some interesting tweets last week about the upcoming Florence Ballard biopic that Faith Evans had signed onto.
Gilbert, a member of the 1990s R&B trio Brownstone and stage play actress and producer, was cast in the film but tweeted that she, Evans and directors Martha Coolidge and Bille Woodruff were no longer attached to the project. (Six degrees of separation alert: Gilbert produced a play, “Soul Kittens Cabaret,” starring Evans, “American Idol” winner Fantasia and fellow Detroiter Tondy Gallant.)

“Faith Evans, Billie Woodruff, Martha Coolidge and I walked away from the Florence Ballard ‘Blondie’ film. None of us were fired…I debated posting about this Florence ‘Blondie’ Ballard Film mess because I didn’t want to highlight ignorance but be warned. No disrespect to Florence Ballards legacy or her family, who were unaware the “producers” of the project are #FRAUDS,” she wrote.

Now, according to IMDB, actress Jurnee Smollett (“Eve’s Bayou,” “The Great Debaters,”) is rumored to be stepping into the role of the ousted Supreme with “Real Housewife of Atlanta”/Xscape singer Kandi Burruss (who visited Detroit recently) playing her older sister, Maxine. Adrien Brody — no stranger to biopics about soul music — is rumored to be playing Peter Benjaminson, the author behind the film’s source material.